Is Moscow the New Berlin?

Moscow's new creative cafe culture provides a space for bohemian types with an artsy, anti-establishment vibe.

In headier, pre–global recession times (remember those?), Moscow was the capital of stunning, sometimes queasy-making excess: Espressos were $10; entrées, $50; bottles of wine, $1,000. And although the city hasn’t lost its new-money trappings, these days there’s a nascent movement toward the cheap and creative—a tonal shift that has spawned a new kind of café culture. Usadba FreeLabs (an usadba is a czarist estate) is one of a growing number of “anti-cafés” in Moscow where patrons pay by the half-hour or hour for Wi-Fi, coffee, tea, and conversation with like-minded creative types increasingly disenchanted with Putin and his politics. But despite the vague anti-establishment stylings, the mood is more Ashtanga than anarchic: The faded-but-elegant interior has classical columns, a warren of back rooms for gatherings and classes (including creative-writing seminars and, yes, yoga), and a decidedly bohemian atmosphere. Is Moscow the new Berlin? Hey, you never know (19 Milutinsky Lane).